Dolphin: Xxx-l

STEVE WATERS WATERFRONTS

Anglers Are Reaping The Best Run Of Big Fish Off South Florida In Years.

May 19, 2006|STEVE WATERS

If you've ever wanted to catch a big dolphin, now is your chance.

Lately, catching a big dolphin has become a common occurrence in local waters, much to the delight of offshore anglers as well as those competing in tournaments such as the South Florida Dolphin Challenge.

Anglers have been catching 20- and 30-pounders on a regular basis, several 40- and 50-pounders have been landed, and two dolphin over 60 pounds have been caught in the past few weeks.

Jim Hall and Nikole Fichter caught one of those 60-plus-pounders off Port Everglades. Sunday, Lisa Flack caught a 64-pound bull dolphin 30 miles off Hillsboro Inlet.

That big fish gave Flack the lead in qualifying in the 11th annual Dolphin Challenge, which started April 1 and runs through June 30. A fish-off among the anglers who catch the 20 heaviest dolphin is July 8 out of Lauderdale Marina. Entry fee is $50, and anglers can still register (visit www.southfloridadolphin challenge.com). The top 11 fish weigh 30 or more pounds, but the 20th-place fish is a little over 22 pounds.

"My life's complete," said Flack, an avid dolphin angler who lives in Lighthouse Point with her husband, Eddie, and who won the 2004 Challenge. "I dream about dolphin like that."

The Flacks were fishing on their 40-foot boat Kilowett with their friends Francine Perry and Dave Brasher of Weston.

They had already trolled up a 20-pound dolphin that morning when they saw steps (like those used for a construction site trailer) floating in the water.

"We trolled by that," said Eddie, who was driving, "and one line went, a second line went and they just kept going off."

They ended up hooking six dolphin. Lisa saw a big cow come out of the water to eat a bait on the left short line and she graciously insisted that Perry fight that fish.

"I try not to hog the rods," Lisa said. "Francine had fished the day before and didn't get anything, so I told her to catch the fish. Besides, I already had a 33-pounder in the Challenge."

Perry's fish was a 31-pound bull. When the shotgun rod at the helm went, Eddie fought that fish, which turned out to be a 32-pound bull.

Then a fish hit the pink-and-blue Jr. Ilander rigged with a big ballyhoo that Lisa had purchased at Tom Greene's Custom Rod and Reel tackle store in Lighthouse Point.

"I had gone into Tommy's store on Friday -- that's where I get all my stuff -- and I said I needed some big fish bait," she said. "He dug through the bait freezer and said, `This'll do it.'"

As the fish took off on the left long line, Lisa grabbed the rod and reel, which had a 100-pounder leader and 50-pound line.

When the dolphin jumped, it about took away her breath.

"The size of his head, it was awesome," she said. "It was a big fish. I was guessing 50 pounds."

Things got a little tense when Eddie's fish crossed lines with Lisa's. Lisa feared that his line would cut hers, but Eddie passed his rod down to Brasher, who separated the lines.

Both 30-pounders were landed while Lisa fought her fish, which came to the boat once and then sounded.

In all, she needed about 30 minutes to land the big bull, but he was still full of fight. As he thrashed on the deck, he scratched Eddie on the ankle with one of his gill plates.

Once that fish was subdued, the crew caught the three remaining dolphin: a 23-pound cow and two 15-pound cows.

"That was the remarkable part to me, that we didn't lose any fish," Eddie said.

Kilowett was back at Hillsboro Inlet by 11 a.m. and the dolphin were weighed at Lighthouse Point Marina.

"Then we spent five hours cleaning dolphin and the boat and then bandaging up ankles," Eddie said.

"Being that I'm not the best cook, we gave so much of it away," said Lisa, who provided fresh dolphin to her neighbors, friends and Greene. "People are so happy to have fresh dolphin."

And they're thrilled to be catching big dolphin.

"We've never had [a qualifier] where this many big fish are being caught," said Al Hernandez, the founder and organizer of the Dolphin Challenge.

"My statement to my customers the last few weeks is this is the best fishing we've seen in the last 10, 15 years," Greene said.

Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-356-4648.

FISHING TRENDS

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

The safest place to fish for bass, given the low water levels, has been the Kissimmee River, where crankbaits and Carolina-rigged plastics were producing. Some nice bass also were biting along Observation Shoal. Bluegills were biting in Uncle Joe's Cut and Indian Prairie Canal.